Supporting a high-quality image workflow in an extremely time-sensitive sports production environment, AJA Video Systems provided its full range of interconnect equipment to facilitate online coverage of the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, held March 12-21 in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.

ParalympicSport.TV, the Internet TV channel of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), sent an editorial crew on-site that used AJA KONA, Ki Pro and Mini-Converters to enable a seamless broadcast workflow based on the Apple ProRes 422 codecs.

The IPC crew, led by broadcasting consultant Jochen Faerber, used 10 Apple Final Cut Pro workstations equipped with AJA KONA LHi video cards for editing. The systems were fed from the live events (captured with Panasonic P2 cameras), with embedded audio into the HD-SDI signal using AJA's HD10AMA Mini-Converters.

AJA’s Io HD box was employed to edit some material in the field and to ensure the footage matched the Apple ProRes files recorded natively by the Ki Pros. The team used several AJA Ki Pro portable digital disk recorders to capture long live feeds directly to Apple ProRes files for archiving and to create cut-downs for TV and Web broadcasts.

The International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBSV) produces the Paralympics. The IPC crew was located in the international broadcast center and received all HD signals produced by the OBSV, covering the alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing and ice sledge hockey events, as well as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

During the Paralympic Games, ParalympicSport.TV streamed live coverage as well as summaries, news and highlights with English commentary. Any site worldwide could stream the Paralympics content on this unrestricted channel.

The IPC is an international non-profit organization formed and run by 161 National Paralympic Committees from five regions and four disability-specific international sports federations (IOSDs). The IPC headquarters and its management team are located in Bonn, Germany.